Mushoku No Kagayaki
by xxichininxnioitexsonoxamexx
Summary: I thought I could see no color; I was born like that. I found beauty without color in how things look, feel, or smell. But why was your teal eyes the first color I saw with your sword through my chest? HitsuxOC.ToshiroxOC HitsugayaxOC
1. Chapter 1 Evening Hour

Hey guys, so this is my new HitsugayaxOC story. I spent a SHIT load of more time on this one than I did on Instituo. I'm going to continue that one later on, but right now I'm really not feeling it :/. I didn't plan the story like I did this one, and blah~. I know I'll rewrite it and such, but right now it's on hiatus. Anyway, so this one is a lot more serious than the other. I'm trying to make it seem more like the vibe of Bleach, as in the action and seriousness of it, but still some of the humor. But yeah, DEFIANTLEY A WRITING SCHEDULE ON THIS ONE! Update every week! And yeah. Ok, so I'm done rambling, translations on the bottom, enjoy~

Mushoki No Kagayaki

Chapter One

Evening Hour

_"What if what we see isn't the truth, and only color-blind people see what's really there?"_

_Unknown._

* * *

If you couldn't see color, would you still find beauty in this world? Could you still look at a flower, and find it beautiful? Could you look at a rainbow, and still adore its radiance? If you had a lover, would you be able to describe what you love about their appearance without mentioning the color of their skin or eyes or hair? If you were walking through this world, would things still catch your eye?

If you couldn't see color, would you find this world bland?

* * *

Karakura Town August 5th 4:30 P.M.

We got a new kid in our class today; his name is apparently Hitsugaya Toshiro. I heard, from the whispers of my classmates, that he was very "odd" looking and had "odd" colored hair and "odd" colored eyes.

I didn't see him today though. I had a doctor's appointment this morning, and when I got back after lunch period, I took my seat in the back of the room without looking at anyone. Even if I _did _see him, I doubt that I would be able to find anything odd about him. Unless he had some blunt physical disability or oddly styled hair, but sense the "oddities" was mainly describing color, I don't think he would be considered odd at all.

Besides the stupid gossip, school went by normal today, nothing too exciting ever really happens anyway.

* * *

Karakura Town August 5th 5:00 P.M

The new station in the World of the Living was already starting to irk me. Human girls and boys were eyeing me in either disgust or with stars in their eyes. Being used to it, I don't mind much; but the humans' silly gossip was still unneeded.

Nevertheless, I don't think I'll be here much longer anyway.

My mission, or rather bounty, was to kill a new Espada by the name of Yoshida Seiji. All we know is that he is manipulating souls, either strong reiryoku or not, to kill each other in some sort of sick and twisted game.

"Yo, Toshiro!" I heard that all-too-familiar voice ring in my ears. I sighed in irritation.

"I told you its _Hitsugaya-taichou _to you Kurosaki!" I snapped, looking up at him. I saw him just shrug it off and continue to walk next to me.

After a silence, he spoke up. "So, you explained to me why you were here in class today, but you never told me where you were gonna stay."

I stiffened and my upper lip twitched. I completely forgot where I was going to sleep and eat.

_'Dammit Toshiro, you're too young for Alzheimer's.' _

My silence gave him his answer and I could slowly feel the wide grin forming on his face. "You can come and stay with me then! Rukia went to the Soul Society to do some things, so I have an empty closet."

I raised my eyebrow and looked up at him again in disbelief. "Kutchiki stays in your _closet?"_

He nodded. I sighed and closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Alright, but if your closet smells, I'm not staying in there."

Kurosaki smirked and looked up at the sky. "Alright! Now, to think of the story so you have to stay…"

* * *

Karakura Town August 5th at 5:00 P.M.

"Shizuko-chan!" I heard the sweet voice of my mom call as I entered our little shop: Jipushi Hofu it was dubbed. It was just a small family business we started in the summer. My mom created all the jewelry, skirts, sashes, head bands, and bags. I on the other hand, took care of the shipping of books, perfumes, and herbs; as well as running the cash register.

We started the business a year after my parents divorced. My Dad and my little brother moved up to Tokyo to neighbor my Dad's old friend and his girlfriend. I didn't want to leave my Mom, so I decided to stay back and visit my Dad from time to time. He was rather upset about it, as well as my little brother, but I kept pressing on that I didn't want to leave her, and eventually they gave in and adjusted the custody so we could see each other accordingly.

Anyway, my Mom decided to open up a Jipushi store and business was great, especially when the renaissance festival was coming around. On normal days, we made about five-hundred American dollars to seven-hundred, and on festival weeks we made about double or sometimes, if we were _really _lucky, we made about triple.

So, we didn't really have money problems. Our life was fairly peaceful. I loved my Mom to death. I didn't have that many friends; most of them were online and live too far away, so my Mom was my best friend. We acted so casual around each other. We told each other secrets, we cursed and didn't care, we sang and dace, and even take a belly dancing class and formal dancing class together.

Over all, we had a lot of fun, and she was the only person who ever really brought "color" to my life.

"Konbanwa Okaa-chan~" I chimed, smiling up at her. I really admired her beauty as well. Straight dark hair, from what I could tell anyway, that cascaded down her shoulders to the swells of her breasts, beautiful big eyes with long thick eyelashes that fluttered and like intricate butterfly wings every time she blinked. Her body was lanky, but beautiful; a perfect dress wearing body. And her most amazing attribute was her beautiful toothy smile. She always smiled, was always happy.

"How was work today?" I asked, walking over to the cash register and counting the money that we had made that day. On school days my Mom ran the store.

"It was good. We had a few more customers today," She replied, walking over to the skirt rack and putting them back in order from sizes. "How was school?"

"It was fine," I started counting through the cash. "We got a new kid today, but I didn't see him though. His name is Hitsugaya Toshiro."

"Hitsugaya Toshiro.." She mumbled slowly to herself. "That's one helluva name. What did he look like?"

I shrugged and took out all of the money and put it in a small pouch that we kept in one of the drawers, and then stuffed it in my school bag. "I dunno, I had that doctor's appointment today, and when I came back to school, I didn't catch a glimpse at him, or anyone. From what I heard, he has odd features."

I changed the closed sign to open and my Mom and I walked out of the store, after locking it tightly and turning off the lights of course. "They were using color words to describe him though so.." I trailed off and shrugged.

Mom sighed and adjusted her purse on her shoulder. "Right..oh well. Tell me about him tomorrow ok?" She smiled down at me. I looked up at her and nodded. "Alright Okaa-chan, so what's for dinner?"

* * *

Karakura Town August 5th 6:00 P.M.

I shunpoed from building to building on patrol; I _had _to get out of that house. It was so rambunctious and I just couldn't _stand _it.

_Flashback_

_ Kurosaki and I walked into the house to instantly be greeted with his Father and the teen fighting. I stepped out of the way and looked at the two in surprise. _

_ "You're getting faster son!" I heard the older man comment after getting a foot planted in his face. "That's because I'm used to your attacks now!" Kurosaki snapped, taking his foot off and stuffing his hands in his pockets. _

_ "Anyway, this is Hitsugaya Toshiro. His family was murdered and he has nowhere to go, so can he stay here for awhile?"_

_ I twitched and looked up at him with a raised eyebrow._ 'Way to angst up the story Kurosaki.'

_His Father, who had suddenly recovered from having a foot implanted in his face, and one of his sisters, the one with the brown hair, were suddenly in my face and crying chibi tears. "Oh you poor thing~" The sister whined, patting my hair causing me to flinch and move back a little. _

_ "You must be so sad, do you need anything?" I twitched and moved her hand out of the way. "I need time to myself…" I mumbled, turning on my heel and walking out the door. _

_ "Be back soon~" I heard her call. "Dinner will be ready!" _

Flash back over

I shook my head as I landed on a roof and looked around in the evening sky. "Staying with the Kurosakis is going to be hell." I mumbled to myself, closing my eyes.

I remember life in the Runkongai and how peaceful it was with Hinamori and Granny. Granny was always soft-spoken and took care of us very well. She would often scold us for fighting like brother and sister from time to time. I chuckled at the thought, completely different from the evenings in the Kurosaki house.

After a moment of me standing on the roof, I felt a sudden strong burst of reiatsu coming from the air above me. I scowled and looked up, grabbing the hilt of Hyorinmaru. Above me was a garganta opening.

Narrowing my eyes, I drew my sword. "Who are you?" I asked darkly, as a man walked out of the black abyss. His hair was wild and red and his hollow hole was right in the middle of his chest. His eyes were wide and yellow, the toothy mask cascading down the bridge of his nose and spreading out on his cheeks.

"I'm the quinto Espada, Yoshida Seiji!"

* * *

Karakura Town August 5th 6:00 P.M.

Mom and I were walking home peacefully with Chinese food bags in our hands. I stared up at the evening sky and sighed, feeling mournful.

"What is it Shizuko-chan?" Mom asked, looking over at me with a look of concern on her face. I stayed silent for a minute then looked down and lowered my eye lids. "The evening sky..I've always wanted to see it's colors..I can tell by the shades of gray, that there must be thousands of different colors when the sunsets.."

She frowned and looked down. I stopped walking; a soft breeze passed by, ruffling our clothes and hair. "I don't let it normally get to me. I find all sorts of beauty in this world even being full blown colorblind..but the evening sky.." I trailed off when I suddenly sensed something; something bad.

I scowled and clenched my hands tighter around the bag. "Okaa-chan," I looked up at her. "I think we should head home faster, I sense something bad might happen.." She looked at me with a confused look on her face but nodded and started walking fast next to me.

* * *

Karakura Town August 5th 6:10 P.M.

Clashing of swords was echoing through the air. Blood splattered on the roof top from a cut on Toshiros forearm as he landed lightly on it. He scowled and held his sword out in front of him, staring up at the smirking, arrogant Espada.

"You give a good fight, _taichou._" Seiji remarked, wiping off some blood from a small cut on his shoulder. "Not bad for a kid."

Hitsugaya snarled and narrowed his teal orbs. "Your powers.." He started. "Why are you manipulating the souls to kill each other?" His smirk grew wider and he crossed his toned arms over his chest. "Cause' it's fun!"

The captain widened his eyes a little. "Nani?"

"You heard me!" The Espada said louder. "The terrified look on their faces is so gratifying, their blood spilled...it's so interesting to see outcome!"

Toshiro widened his eyes. "You mean that you don't control their movements?"

"Nope, I can but I choose not to. That takes out all of the fun!" He sonidoed in front of Toshiro as he said the last part. The boy was barely able to avoid the attack as Seiji made a slashed at his chest. This sent Toshiro flying to the ground, creating a crater. "Cheh..."

Seiji jumped back and twitched his sword, sending the blood to the cement below. There was a yelp.

"Huh?"

Seiji looked down to find a small girl with what seemed to be her mother. The blood had landed on the ground before the smaller girl; she bent down to it and ran it through her fingers. It was Shizuko and her Mother.

"B...blood?" She mumbled, then looked up and widened her eyes. Shizukos mother bent down next to her and looked up at the same spot, only barely seeing an outline of the Espada. "Okaa-chan..do you..see that?" Shizuko blurted out in disbelief in at her own sight.

"I..barely see anything.."

Seiji smirked and looked back over at the crater created by the captain. There was still some thick dust and debris floating around so he took his chance. He held out both pointer fingers and creating a circle motion with them, starting from the bottom then making the two digits meet at the top. A red cero formed and was shot. There was a yelp and a scream from the same two women; Shizukos Mother fainted.

"Okaa-chan!" Shizuko cradled her Mom in her lap and patted her cheeks. "Okaa-chan! Onegai okimasu!" She pleaded. Seiji smirked and sonidoed right in front of Shizuko, towering over her. He licked his lips. "You gotta strong reiatsu there _onnanoko._" He sneered darkly, bending down before her.

Shizuko widened her eyes and shook terribly, absolutely terrified of the man standing before her. She froze as he bent down and placed a huge hand on her head, his smirk growing wider by the second. "This will be interesting." A blue light starting forming on his hand and glowing in Shizukos already baby blue eyes; she screamed.

* * *

Karakura Town August 5th 6:15 P.M.

I scoffed and stuck Hyorinmaru in the ground, helping me stand up. Pain shot through my head and chest wound as I did so. I opened my eyes and winced, my vision was fairly blurry, but was slowly clearing out. I looked down and coughed up some blood into my hand. It took me a minute, but I shook it off.

I scowled and flashed up into the sky and looked around. "Damn…" I mumbled to myself. "Where is he?" I felt his reiatsu fluctuate for a second; it almost seemed to _fuse _with a weaker reiatsu. I simply ignored it, probably nothing anyway, and focused. "Show yourself!" I called out, clutching the hilt of Hyorinmaru tighter.

There was a sudden flash and he appeared again, but there was something different. Yoshida looked terrified, almost like he saw a ghost. He was shaking and sweating, and almost seemed frozen.

I scowled. What kind of trick is he trying to pull. "Teme..what the _hell _are you trying to pull with that _act?"_ He blinked and backed away a little.

"Onegai..I don't know what happened..but..I'm in a different body an-"

"Urusai!" I barked, charging at him. "I dunno who you think I am, but I'm _not _falling for that act!" I flew towards him, my Zanpakuto in a stabbing position aimed straight for his heart.

He stayed still, frozen in place. For an instant, I felt a tinge of resistance to stab him, but I ignored it and put poured some reiatsu into my sword, the blue light leaking off of it.

Yelling out, I stabbed him straight through his chest and looked into his yellow eyes. Terror was present in them. "You've lost, cut the scared cr-" I widened my own eyes.

The once yellow orbs changed into bright blue ones. The unruly read hair was now a shoulder length brown hair with bangs swopping down from the left side of her face to her right. The once huge body and muscular body was now small and frail, wearing a high school outfit.

It was a human girl.

She coughed up blood and looked up at me with tears in her eyes. The pale blue orbs losing their shine and turning dull. The blood from the stab stained her shirt and ran down my sword, dripping onto the ground below, echoing through my ears.

"D…Don't..l..et me die.." She spoke. Her voice was strained and quiet.

I clenched by jaw together tightly. I just stabbed a _human _girl. I should've known better when I felt the man's reiatsu merge with someone else's, to pay attention to it. Idiot. Now what do I do? If I leave her to die, the sou-taichou will certainly have me punished. Stripped of my title, executed, detention, Nest of Maggots.

_It's illegal for a shinigami to kill a human that he has not been ordered to kill. _I clenched my fists tighter. _'I can't kill her..but maybe if I do this, then I won't get punished.' _

'_Gomen nasai Hinamori, Matsumoto. I hope you can forgive me.'_

"KUSO!" I screamed out, and then poured all of my reiatsu into the girl.

'_This is a chance I'm willing to take, so I can still protect you.'_

* * *

Karakura Town August 5th 6:30 P.M.

I ran down the streets of Karakura town, the girl on my right shoulder and, what I'm guessing to be her mother, on my left. Surpringsly, she had not taken all of my powers like Kurosaki Ichigo had taken from Kutchiki Rukia. She had taken a majority of them, leaving me with only enough power to that equal of a sixth seat. So, I was still able to shunpo and jump from building to building, but it was reduced dramatically and I wasn't willing to take the chance with to weights on my shoulders.

Right after I had transferred my powers, the girl had fainted. Most likely from the toll on her body, and the strong reiatsu she was being exposed to from the Espada and myself. Her mother on the other hand, had fainted long before she did and had a much weaker reiatsu than she did.

Nevertheless, I had gotten myself into some deep shit; I just hope that I won't be executed.

I arrived at the shop and burst through the door, panting. Urahara Kisuke was leaning against one of his candy shelves, his fan over his face. Tsukibashi Tessai was standing right behind him. "I knew you would come." He turned around. "Tessai, take the human and the _substitute _and put them on beds in the back. Please attend to Hitsugaya-taichous wounds as well."

The over grown man walked up to me and took the two women and put them over his shoulders and walked to the back; I followed after him, stumbling from blood loss.

After at least half an hour, I was healed and bandaged, drinking tea with Urahara while the two humans were in the back, resting. Urahara looked up at me from his hat and put the tea cup down, along with his fan.

"So, what are you planning to do?" He asked, crossing his arms. I scowled and put the tea down, staring down at the table. "..I don't know.." I confessed, running a hand through my hair. "I was careless when fighting; I felt the Espadas reiatsu merge with the humans, so I should've known better. But the sou-taichou would _never _take that as an excuse.."

The man stayed silent.

"Since, from knowing Kurosaki Ichigo and Kutchiki Rukias situation, I was guessing that the Seireitei wouldn't punish me as harshly as they would if I killed a human that I wasn't supposed to kill..so that's where I got the idea." I took another sip of my tea then put the cup down.

"But the down side is that I was assigned to the World of the Living to kill the Espada, and I'm not allowed to go back until I have done so. And I'm not going to put it on your shoulders or Kurosaki Ichigos because it's _my _job as a taichou.."

I sighed and looked over to the room where the two were resting. "But that girl..she now has my powers. And I cannot just take them away from her or wipe her memory. She has a taichous reiatsu in her, so it won't go away any time soon."

I stayed silent for a moment, turning back to the table. I then looked up at Urahara, scowling. "How long will it be before I gain my powers back?" He sighed and looked at me straight in the eyes. "With your power, I have to guess from four to six months." I flinched and banged my fist on the table.

"Kuso! Baka..Baka!" I cursed at myself. My fist was so tight that my knuckles turned pure white and my hand started to bleed from my nails digging into my skin.

"Now now Hitsugaya taichou," Urahara coaxed, pouring me some more tea. "We can think of something if you just stay calm. You are a genius after all right?"

I nodded and sighed, unclenching my fist and calming down, taking another drink of my tea.

"Besides," He continued. "I have an idea."

* * *

Review please c: I want to hear your feedback~

Translations~

Okaa-chan- Mama

Kuso- Dammit

Onegai- Please

Onnanoko- Wake up

Jipushi Hofu- Gypsy Galore

Quinto- Fifth

That's it c:

Greyson out~


	2. Chapter 2 Plan

Oh my god thank you allll~ I got so many story alerts and hits :D I just had to update this chapter! It was sooooooooooo long too my poor fingers T_T Oh well! Honestly thank you all! I can't wait to hear more feedback :D. Well here's the next chapter, translations at the bottom! Enjoy~

Mushoku no Kagayaki

(Colorless Radiance)

Chapter Two

Plan

_"It's best to have failure happen early in life. It wakens the Phoenix bird in you so you can rise from the ashes." -Baxter Anne_

* * *

Karakura Town August 5th 8:00 P.M

My head hurt; it felt like I was spinning. The last thing I remember was feeling some sort of energy being poured into me. It must've been a dream, I couldn't have been stabbed through the chest and lived, it's impossible.

I sat up and found myself laying on a futon. I widened my eyes a little and felt something brush up against my arm. I looked down to find a baggy black sleeve cascading down to the middle of my forearm. Franticly I now checked all over my body. I was wearing some sort of black Japanese kimono with an obi and hakama pants.

Now I'm in full blown panic.

I was in some random small room, sleeping on a futon, with some strange kimono on. This was so confusing. One minute, I was walking home with my Mom, the next I was taken over by some strange man with a mask on his face, then I was stabbed through the chest, and now I'm here.

'_What the hell is going on?'_

There was a ruffling sound next to me and I looked over; my Mom was sleeping on a futon next to me!

"Okaa-chan!" I cried out, crawling over to her but stopped abruptly by my hand landing on something hard and smooth. I looked down to see a very long sheathed katana. I flinched and grabbed the hilt shakily, then slowly took the blade slightly out of its scabbard.

The blade was sharp and I could see my reflection in it; clear as day. I brushed my fingers over the wide end then gasped when I saw another reflection in the blade. It was the boy from earlier, the one that stabbed me.

Letting out a sharp gasp, I dropped the sword and put my hands over my mouth. I slowly, very slowly, turned my head towards him in horror. This time, I got a better look at him and my heart stopped.

_'His eyes…his..they..they're not a shade of gray…they're..they have color.' _It's impossible, absolutely impossible. I, Kato Shizuko, was born with Rod Monochromacy, or complete colorblindness. I _cannot _see color. I can only tell if something is vibrant or not by the shade of gray. This has to be a trick, an illusion or something.

"Teme.." I murmured out, backing up a little. "Who are you?" I yelled at him, attempting to seem angry but failing because of the dry sob that cracked my voice.

He looked down at me with a raised eyebrow then started to walk to me. I shook and backed away some more then realized something: He didn't have his sword! I quickly grabbed the katana and shakily brought it up, pointing it to his chest.

"St-stay away from me!" I barked at him, my grip on the sword faltering. In a spit second, he was gone, then right next to me, his calloused pale hand on mine and wrapping around the hilt.

A sudden coldness ran over me.

"You brought up a sword that you don't know how to wield to an enemy that stabbed you earlier," He commented, his voice cool and deep. "That's quite brave of you _Kato Shizuko._"

My heart was racing; it felt like it was going to explode at any second. Cold sweat poured down my brow and dropped from my chin and onto my shaking arms. My breath was becoming stiff and shallow; it was hard for me to take a deep breath without a pang coursing through that area. It felt like I was being crushed slowly by a one-ton cinder block being slowly lowered onto my chest.

He knows my name. How the hell does he know my name? He was just three or four feet away from me a second ago, and now suddenly be right next to me? I looked over to his face and saw those same colored eyes staring at me. It's impossible. I must be a captured guinea pig for some new sick drug that he's testing. He must've inserted it when he stabbed me through my chest..or..or..

Mom? What about Mom? She was still out cold and her only movement was the shallow heaving of her chest. I need her, I can't do this. I wanna go home. I wanna go home and eat Chinese food and watch a comedy movie or an anime movie.

Without another warning, I let out a high pitched scream then fell into darkness again.

* * *

Karakura Town August 5th 10:27 P.M

Kato Shizuko had fainted from anxiety like Urahara and I had feared. "It is the emotional toll and confusion of the situation." He had said. We couldn't take course of the plan unless she was fully stable and functioning. Urahara told me that the two women should be taken home before Kato awoke and freaked out again.

He gave me the address to the apartment; how the man received it I have no idea, and ordered Tsukibashi to help me carry the two humans' home. We arrived and placed them in their respected rooms; I assuming that the room with scattered clothes and multiple posters of Japanese rock bands on the wall Kato Shizukos, and the much neater one being Kato Rei, or her mother.

Urahara told me that I should keep a close eye on the house because of the hollows that Kato Shizuko would attract; even though that we put her in a gigai, she would still leak reiatsu. I decided to head back to the Kurosakis house which was a turmoil I was _not _prepared for.

* * *

Karakura Town August 5th 11:00 P.M.

I'm falling, there's black and white silhouettes surrounding me. "Freak." They keep mumbling, sinister smirks on their blank faces.

Last year in eighth grade, I told my "best friend" that I could talk to and see a ghost that was living in my apartment. The ghost was my age and her name was Yokoshi Mika. Mika had told me that she killed herself when she took too many Trazedone by accident. I asked her why she took so many, and she said that she was having bad anxiety and couldn't sleep, so she took the pills to calm her nerves.

I had found her sitting on my Mom and I's balcony on a stormy day about three months ago. Of course I freaked out and asked her why she was there, but then she explained to me that she was dead and I was the only one she had ever come across that could see her. Ever since then, she slept with me in my bed and I would talk to her and such.

When I told Akira, my "best friend", she freaked out and told everyone in the school. Even the teachers knew about it and made me sit in the back corner in all my classes. They also ignored me if I raised my hand to ask a question; now I've just given up.

Anyway, all the students would call me "crazy" or "freak" and it was really bad for awhile. Now it's died down but from time to time some random asshole will try to pick on me. I just ignore them though.

The silhouettes were starting to fade and it felt like my shoulders were being shaken. It suddenly turned black, and I heard someone calling my name.

"Shizuko-neesan!" I know that voice. "Shizuko-neesan!" It's Mika. She keeps calling me. Get up, get up!

I slowly opened my eyes and looked over at the girl's soft and worried face. She always worried about me. Due to my Rod Monochromacy, I had to have special care for my eyes. I had to wear special contacts for the stigmatism that was a symptom as well as special sunglasses to shield my eyes from the sun during the afternoon and mornings. We also had special florescent lights installed into the apartment because of my light sensitivity.

She was too young and beautiful to worry about me.

"Shizuko-neesan are you ok?" She asked franticly, helping me sit up.

"I'm ok." I said with a small smile. Her droopy and bright eyes were filled with concern as she hugged me tightly around my shoulders; I returned the hug by wrapping my arms around her waist.

"I went looking for you when you and your Okaa-chan were late and when I came back you both were back and sleeping in your beds!" I widened my eyes and started to shake.

If Mika had said that, and I know for a fact that she is telling the truth, then that could mean that what happened wasn't a dream; that that really happened; I can't tell her what happened. She doesn't need to worry about me.

She was already developing worry lines and she was only a year older than me!

"Shizuko-neesan?" She asked, noticing my shaking.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," I said, looking up at her with a (fake) sweet smile on my face. Mika blinked and pulled away from me. "Okaa-chan and I had to stay back at the shop to clean up and when we came home, I guess we were so exhausted that we fell asleep."

I hated lying. I have _never _lied to Mika before, so this was killing me on the inside.

She looked at me with a slightly confused face, but before she could say anything, I stood up and grabbed a hold on her small hand. "I'm ok~" I chimed, keeping the (fake) smile on my face. "Let's go sleep with Okaa-chan alright?" Mika nodded and walked out of the room and into my Moms.

Our apartment was fairly large for just two of us, unlike most Japanese apartments. Our apartment had two bedrooms, a bathroom, fairly large living area, a full kitchen, heater, and one traditional Japanese room which my Mom uses for creating the merchandise for Jipushi Hofu.

Anyway, if I or Mika was scared, we would occasionally sleep with my Mom. My Mom didn't know that Mika existed because she couldn't see ghosts like I could, but she didn't care if I slept with her. She found it rather comforting and sweet, plus she needed the company from time to time. I loved sleeping in the same bed with my Mom as well; she gave off a warm and comforting vibe.

Mika crawled into the bed after me and I checked on my Mom, running my hand over her cheek. She seemed to be fine. She was sleeping normally and, from what I could tell, her breathing was normal. I let out a _huge _sigh of relief and plopped on my side, putting a hand over my stressed out heart.

Mika looked over at me and raised a small eyebrow. "What was that for Shizuko-neesan?" She asked in a whisper. I smiled at the taller girl and pulled her frail body to mine then kissed the top of her head. "Nothing sweetie, just go to sleep." I mumbled, closing my eyes.

"O..ok."

* * *

Karakura Town August 6th 12:15 A.M.

Surprisingly when I arrived at Kurosaki Ichigos house, there wasn't as much of turmoil as I thought. In fact, Kurosakis father and sisters were in bed by the time I got home. When I walked up to Kurosaki Ichigos room, he was sitting on his desk chair and giving me a serious look.

"What happened out there Toshiro?" He asked, his scowl deepening. I scowled myself and sat on the bed, crossing my arms and glaring at him. "Hitsugaya-taichou, and nothing happened."

"Oh really? Then how come your reiatsu has considerably reduced?" I flinched and looked away from him and at the ground. "Nothing Kurosaki, it's none of your concern."

He twitched and grabbed my shoulder, squeezing it tightly. I looked over at him with my eyebrow raised, trying to remain nonchalant. "I still feel your reiatsu out there, but it's not coming from your body, it's coming from a human." I remained silent. "So I'm going to ask once more: what happened?"

I sighed and told Kurosaki everything that had happened earlier. He reacted quite surprised and asked what I would do. I only gave him a brief description of what I was planning to do and he was not to tell Kuchiki Rukia or any other of his friends.

"What school does she go to?" Kurosaki asked, looking over at me. I shrugged. "I assume that, since she is your age, she goes to Karakura High. Her name is Kato Shizuko."

Kurosaki widened his eyes a little then narrowed them and looked down at his hands. "I know of her. She's a first year student though." I nodded and sighed.

We were silent for awhile before I told him I was heading to bed. Kurosaki opened his closet for me and I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, then shook my head and jumped in. After changing into my sleeping attire, I stared up at the ceiling of the closet and scowled.

There is no guarantee that Matsumoto or any shinigami of that matter won't come to the World of the Living to check up on me. Since I'm a captain, the expectations of me killing that Espada are high, and with Kurosaki Ichigo here as well, it'll stir suspicion as to why me killing the Espada has not happened yet. A month would be expectable, but even a month and a half would be fishy, even though I don't have a time limit.

I sighed and pulled the fleece blanket over my shoulders and turned on my side, closing my eyes.

Phase one of the plan beings tomorrow.

* * *

Karakura Town August 6th 8:15 A.M.

Everyone was in their own little groups of friends while I sat in my normal seat and started out the window. Everything from last night was a blur and my Mom didn't seem to remember _anything _about it. She simply said that, just like my story, we were out late cleaning the store and when we got home, we fell asleep.

Great, now my Mom doesn't remember and I can't talk to _anyone _about it. None of this is adding up.

The teacher walked in and started to take attendance. I looked out the window and sighed quietly, knowing it was going to be a long day.

* * *

Karakura Town August 6th 12:00 P.M.

It was lunch and I was sitting on the top of the roof on the other side of where the second year students Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends sat. His friends were nice and Ichigo said "Hi" to me from time to time, but I mainly didn't talk to them and stayed silent on my side of the building.

I barely ate my lunch and stared out at the sky and closed my eyes. I wanted answers and I wanted them now. I wanted someone to tell me that I was going to be ok and I was just having a bad dream. But that isn't going to happen is it?

I banged my head against the wall behind me and groaned. "Kuso.."

"Need answers?" I heard a somewhat familiar voice call to me. I looked over in the direction and dropped my lunch. Once again, there was the boy from yesterday except he was in a school uniform with his hands in his pockets.

My heart was pounding and I felt faint again. I stood up and started backing up slowly to the rail, lost for words. He walked up to me and raised an eyebrow just like before. "Do you want answers?" He asked nonchalant- like, leaning against the wall that I was leaning on.

I gulped and gripped the rail tightly. What the hell am I supposed to say? How am I supposed to trust him? Surely he won't do anything while Ichigo and his friends are around.

"…How do I know to trust you?" I asked quietly, looking over at him with a scowl. A ghost of a smirk was on his face and he looked away, crossing his arms. "I can give you answers, whether you trust me or not it's up to you. But I won't hurt you like you think I will." I widened my eyes and scowled deeper.

"I..I don't trust you..but I do want answers." I said with a nod despite myself. His smirk made my stomach churn. He looked over at me and nodded. "Smart girl. Let's begin."

My jaw dropped as I stared at Hitsugaya Toshiro in disbelief. Shinigami, Hollows, Espada, Soul Society? And now _I'm _a substitute shinigami because he gave his powers to me in order to save me?

"…You have my power; powers of one of the most powerful shinigami taichous in the Thirteen Court Guard Divisions."

I blinked and dropped my shoulders. "Since you don't know how to control the reiatsu from the power, you will attract numerous amounts of Hollows and Arrancars.." He trailed off. "The Arrancar that took control of you is the reason why I'm here; I was sent on a mission to kill him. And _I _have to kill it. Not you, Kurosaki Ichigo, or any other shinigami there is out there. But you have my power within you, meaning you can leave of similar traces of my reiatsu when you fight. So that is why," He stood up straight and looked over at me with serious and slightly dangerous look in his eyes.

"I will make it look like I killed the Espada, but in fact you Kato Shizuko, will have killed it. This won't get me killed, so will you help me?"

I blinked once again and gave him the dumbest look I could possibly pull off. He actually expected me to try to _kill _something. Me, Kato Shizuko. Yeah, I have hand-derp coordination, meaning that I was a klutz and slow on reflexes. I will literally be walking and trip over my own foot. If I can pull off that, then I will certainly be stabbed with just a look.

But wait a second. Wasn't it a shinigamis job to protect humans? Anger started boiling in me.

"…Are you kidding me?" I snapped at Toshiro, anger evident on my face. "It's a shinigamis job to protect humans! It is none of my concern if you are going to get in trouble because of your dumbass mistake! You can figure it out yourself just leave me out of it! I'm not going to be used so you won't get executed by your higher authoritarians! So screw you Hitsugaya Toshiro!"

I stormed off the roof and back down the stairs to the building. '_There was no way in hell I would ever do anything for him! That bastard, who did he think he is?'_

* * *

Karakura Town August 6th 3:15 P.M.

I walked out of the school down the campus. My anger had slightly calmed down but it was replaced with anxiety. Toshiro was in _my _class, he sat in the back in the other corner and he stared at me the entire class time.

What should I do? Should I just ignore him? Should I confront him? I gulped and held my bad tighter. _'No. I'm going to ignore him.' _

I made it past the gate and turned in the direction towards the shop. A soft breeze past by and I felt someone behind me. I turned around but suddenly, an arm was wrapped around my waist and then I was flying, flying through the warm air.

I gasped and my heart fluttered. Just as fast as I was in the air, I was suddenly in some ally way, staring straight into color filled eyes. There he was, Hitsugaya Toshiro staring straight at me with determination in his eyes.

I can't just live a normal life can I?

"You do realize if you don't comply, all of your family will be at risk." He said lowly, his eyes never leaving mine. I gulped loudly and, though I was hesitant to do so, put my hands against his chest and pushed him back. "I told you no!" I snapped at him.

"It is _your _job as a shinigami to protect us humans! I'm pretty sure that you won't let anything happen to us either because you would get in more trouble!" I stormed away from him and towards the street. "You're going to regret this Kato." He said nonchalantly as if he didn't care.

"Screw you!" I snapped back at him then sprinted down the street and towards the shop.

* * *

Karakura Town August 6th 7:30 P.M.

It was time. Uraharas plan is now going to take its place. It's not like we want to do this, but it's our only choice for the stubborn human that she is.

Kurosaki stood behind me on the roof top I was on; there was storm clouds forming and distant thunder was heard. "You know the plan Kurosaki. Be close for backup. You got that?" I looked over my shoulder at him and scowled.

He nodded and smiled a little. "Right, I'll remember. Good luck Toshiro." I sighed. "Hitsugaya-_taichou!" _I heard him laugh a little before I shunpoed off.

* * *

Karakura Town 6th 7:45 P.M.

I was sitting on my bed and feeling uneasy. Mom was out with her friends and Mika wasn't home. I was starting to worry. Usually Mika would leave for a little bit, but would always come home. Even when she did go out, she wouldn't go too far. She would always stay within a few yards of the apartment complex and sit on the curb and just stare out into space.

Even though Mika and I were close like sisters, she still remained a mystery.

I sighed and walked out to the balcony and sat on the Orvis and pulled my knees to my chest. Ever since I got home, I felt a tinge of regret and anxiety for what I had said to Toshiro.

I believed what he said as far for _what _he was. It seems rather silly when one would hear it, but for me, since I see Mika and her being dead along with seeing Toshiro in that form as well as that Espada, But I believed it. I don't _want _to believe it, but there's all the evidence pointing towards it so if I didn't, I would be in denial.

But the reason why I felt so anxious was because that I didn't _know _Toshiro. I didn't know if he would _really _let me, or any other human or soul, get hurt. I didn't believe his story of why I should defeat the Espada is what I'm saying I guess. For all I know, he could be a rebel out trying to manipulate people into doing things that would get them killed.

Should I have trained with him? Should I have tried to protect my family and _ignore _the fact that I have his "shinigami powers" right now?

I dropped my head onto my knees and sighed heavily.

"Maybe I should have.."

"Should have what Shizuko-neesan?" I heard that familiar voice ask.

I yelped and shot around, now staring at the sweet Mika in front of me. "Sweetheart! I didn't know you were there! You startled me!"

_'Strange. Usually I sense her when she comes near me.'_

She smiled and clasped her hands around mine and practically yanked me out of the chair. I yelped once again and caught myself just in time, but without stumbling of course. "Oi oi, watch it there sweetheart, I almost fell."

She kept that smile on her face looked down into my eyes. I flinched a little and frowned slightly. Her bright eyes, once again from what I could tell, weren't shining. They were rather dull and almost seemed lifeless. I shook it off and stood up right, looking up at her.

"I want to show you something Shizuko-neesan." Mika turned around and started dragging me forcefully out the door. I allowed myself to get dragged and laughed nervously. "A-alright sweetheart.." I mumbled to myself.

* * *

Karakura Town August 6th 8:12 P.M.

Mika led me down to an empty valley a little ways away from our apartment. It was getting odder. Mika was scared to go too far by herself, so why would she go out here? She told me once that she hated open valleys herself; she said that they made her think of some murder out to get her. So why was she..?

"Sweetheart, why are we out here?" There was distant thunder and I gulped a little. "It's getting kinda dark and stormy, we should head home."

She continued to walk without hesitance in her step. "It's ok Shizuko-neesan." Her voice sounded strange. I stopped and tried to pull my hand away but her grip tightened. "Sw-sweetheart, cmon let go of me onegai."

Mikas grip grew tighter on my hand, almost to the point where it felt like it was going to break. I winced a little and tried to pull back again. "S-sweetheart onegai! You're hurting me!" She stayed silent and gripped tighter causing my hand to start to bleed. I gulped and slapped her hand hard then pulled away, holding my bleeding hand.

"Shizuko –neesan hurt me.." She mumbled, looking down and holding her hand. I blinked and narrowed my eyes. "That's because yo-"

"It's not nice to hurt people Shizuko-neesan." Her voice was getting really deep and creepy. "People who hurt other people deserved to be punished."

I lost a bit of my temper and snapped at her. "Mika you were the one who made my hand bleed! And what the hell are you talking about?" I instantly regretted what I said. I _never _snapped at Mika.

"Shizuko-neesan cursed at me. You must be punished." Some sort of light started forming around her, causing me to step back and fall to the grass on my ass, staring up at the girl.

"Sw-sweetheart?" I squeaked out, my heart pounding in my chest.

"You don't deserve to call me that Shizuko!" She screamed at me. Her voice was distorted and the light increased with her scream. Mika then turned around and glared at me with a wicked smirk; I gasped and held my chest.

Her eyes were black, her smirk showed fangs, and her skin started to broil like milk in the microwave. "Mika!" I called to her, tears forming in my eyes.

"YOU DON'T DESERVE TO CALL ME THAT YOU WENCH!" The light surrounded her and sent me back flying a couple feet, making me land on my stomach. A piercing screech was heard and eventually the light cleared.

Now rain was pouring down onto the valley and wetting my clothes, face, and hair. There was no thunder or lighting; just rain. I looked up with blurry vision and flinched at the sight before me. Mika was now some sort of monster, some hideous lanky monster.

The arms were long and shaped like spears as well as the feet and tail that whipped around. There was a mask on the head that had thin and dark eyes with only a slither of light in the middle. And in the middle of the gas like chest, was a blunt hole; a hole big enough to fit my entire body in there.

_'Mika..why do you..?_ _No. This wasn't Mika. Mika was kind and beautiful. She always gave off a warm radiance even though she was dead. She was the kind of person that could never hate anyone..This is a monster..no wait,' _I yelped and covered my years at another ear piercing screech. _'This is a hollow.'_

Flashback

"_Hollows are former pulses that didn't transfer to the Soul Society via Konso.' Toshiro explained. 'The Chain of Fate is severed on their chest and they transfer into what you humans would call a monster. In order to fill their despair, they eat other souls and humans. Our job as shinigami is to cleanse these hollow of their sins and send them to the Soul Society.'_

Flashback Over

"Kuso..Mika.." I mumbled, looking down and clenching the grass under my fists. '_Kuso! Kuso! Kuso! Kuso!' _

"You have to cleanse her of her sins." I heard that familiar voice call. I looked up and saw Toshiro staring at the screeching hollow. He then looked down at me and pulled out a strange glove from what he called shihakusho, and put it on his hand. "This will make you transform into a-Nani?" His head snapped back to the hollow as did mine.

It was screeching and from the gas like chest, there seemed to be an eerie and translucent silhouette of Mika. "Shizuko-neesan!" Her voice was almost like an echo. "Onegai! Oneg-"There was an ear piercing scream coming from her as another screech of the hollow.

After a moment, the screeching stopped and there was a spine shivering sinister laugh coming from the monster. "That girl..mmmm!" It's deep and creepy voice pierced my ears as it glared at me and Hitsugaya. "Her reiatsu was absolutely amazing! It was so sweet and satisfying, I _loved _devouring her!"

I growled and stood up, glaring darkly at the thing. "Kusotare let Mika go!" I yelled at him over the raging rain.

Another laugh emerged from him and the rain seemed to subside. "Now I can't do that! But you.." His tongue slithered out of his mouth and licked the cracked bone like teeth. "You have some strong reiatsu too! Almost that of a shinigami taichou, you'll be delicious to eat!"

I snarled and clenched my fists. "Moka-moka!" He laughed even more then let out a gasp of confusing.

"Huh?"

"Leave Shizuko-neesan alone!" I heard Mikas voice and her silhouette appeared again in the gas like torso. "How the hell can yo-?"

"I said leave her alone!" Both screams from Mika and the hollow were heard, giving me a headache.

The two were fighting for control. Mika was trying to protect me, trying to protect me from that monster. She was fighting with all of her strength..

There was a sudden hand planted on the side of my face that snapped me out of my thoughts. I expected to land on the ground but I was standing up and looking down at a lifeless version of my body. I widened my eyes and looked up over at Toshiro. "You must cut the hollow through the mask in order to cleanse it of its misery."

He pointed to the elongated sword on my hip. I looked down at it with widened eyes.

The screaming was still heard. "N-no!" I snapped at him, pointing to the silhouette. "Mika is still in there and she is still fighting that thing!" He narrowed his eyes at me. "Mika is strong! She can fight she ca-"

"No she won't!" He snapped at me. "The hollow will consume her! She will forever be in despair! A simple soul like her cannot defeat a monster like that with just will alone! Accept her fate! You must kill her and the hollow!"

I blinked and looked over at the screaming battle; the hollow was holding his head and Mika and giving off some sort of light similar to the one before.

"NO! I will not! I have faith in Mika! You don't know her like I do! She will wi-"The screeching of the hollow grew louder. "I must consume more to get stronger.." He charged at me and Toshiro, his tongue whipping around and claw like hands at aimed at our throats.

The silhouette of Mika was gone.

"Getsuga Tensho!" _Another _light hurdled towards the hollow in front of me. It burned off some of the arm and I heard Mika scream along with the hollow.

"Damn you! I will be back!" The hollow cursed and disappeared into a black abyss.

I looked around franticly for Mika. "M-Mika! Sweetheart! Where are you?" I ran into the place where the hollow was and found no trace of her. I couldn't even sense her. "Mika! Mika!"

"Yakunitata nai." I heard Toshiro say. I spun around and looked at him with widened eyes. Kurosaki Ichigo was also standing right beside him, a massive sword on his back and wearing the same outfit except without the white cloak that Toshiro wore.

"Because of you, Yokoshi Mika is gone. She was consumed by that hollow." I widened my eyes and tears started to sting the ducts. "Because of your false beliefs, Yokoshi Mika is dead. Because of you, you may never see Yokoshi Mika again!" Fresh hot tears were pouring down my face. "Because of you, Yokoshi Mika will forever live on in despair!"

I screamed and fell to my knees, sobbing violently. The rain was now in a full blown thunder storm with lighting striking all around the sky.

_'Mika..Mika..my precious Mika..you're dead because of me..gomen..gomen..'_

* * *

Karakura Town August 5th 8:42 P.M.

I allowed Kato to get out some of her emotions from the death of her friend. Urahara and I knew this would happen because we _let _it happen.

Urahara told me that Kato had a soul friend that had died a couple months ago by an accidental suicide. He also said that the Chain of Fate was slowly severing and Yokoshi Mika would soon turn into a hollow. So, in case of Kato Shizukos resistance to take on the job as a Shinigami, we would allow her to witness the death of her friend. We were hoping that the psychological toll would trigger the protective sense in her and take on the job.

What did go wrong was the fact that she didn't kill the hollow and Kurosaki didn't kill it either only injured it. It didn't matter though; the only thing left was to see if the plan worked.

I walked up to the sobbing girl and stood in front of her. For an instant I stayed quiet, and then I spoke. "So, are you going to take the job now?"

There was a moment of tension. She gasped and slowly helped herself up then looked up at me with angry and sad eyes.

"Y-yes."

* * *

Teme- Rude way of saying "You"

Trazedone- Sleeping Medication

Kuso- Damn or shit

Kusotare- Shit head

Orvis- A type of swinging chair. It's padded and hangs from two chains that are connected to two poles that sit on the ground.

Onegai- Please

Moka-Moka- Go fuck yourself

Yakunitata nai- It's useless.


	3. Chapter 3 Cleaning Up

Ohh thank you guys for the reviews x3! I love them and keep em comin' ;D! Ok, so yesterday was my friends birthday which I missed T_T, so her birthday present is this chapter AND another one that I'm going to have an early update which is on Tuesday, but after that it will go on it's normal schedule which is every Saturday. Ok! So um...enjoy this chapter..nothing really much more to say about it...I LOVE YOU VALERIE HAPPY BURFFFFDAAAAYYY 3 Translations at the bottom.

Mushoku no Kagayaki

(Colorless Radiance)

Chapter Three

Cleaning up

_"Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things." - George Carlin._

* * *

Karakura Town August 8th 8:00 P.M.

Kato and I were eating lunch on top of the building with Kurosaki, Ishida, Yasutora and two other people that I did not know the names of. The nakama talked while I leaned against the fence and Kato sat in the corner of the fence and stared out into the courtyard, remaining silent.

She hadn't spoken a word since the "incident" a few days ago. I felt only a tinge of remorse for what I had done. We had to do it though in order for her to comply. It was the quickest plan that we could come up with in the first place because of this dire situation.

I know what it's like to lose a friend and watch them die right in front of you; the wound is dug deep into the heart and burdens you forever. So, knowing that, I gave her a days' rest.

Kato was in a deep depression; I could tell by her physical appearance. She had a slouch in her posture, her eyes were slightly darker and she was a little paler than usual. It reminds me of Hinamori and how depressed she looked, or still does look, after Aizen betrayed us

'_That bastard'_

* * *

Karakura Town August 8th 3:20 P.M.

School was over and I told Kato to wait outside by the gate outside of the school. I stayed within the school and walked up to Kurosaki Ichigo.

"Kurosaki, I'm going to start training Kato soon, so I need you to take on any strong hollow or arrancar that shows up the next few months." I said, looking up at the substitute.

He nodded and walked out of the school next to me. "That's fine. How long will it take you to get your powers back?"

I sighed and stuffed my hands into my pockets, closing my eyes. "That's none of your business Kurosaki." I walked ahead of the twitching teen and heard him yell some obstinacies at me but I ignored him.

As I walked across the court yard, I saw Kato leaning against the gate, staring out into the street blankly as if she was brain dead.

"Oi," I called as I walked up to her. She looked over at me with half-lidded eyes. "Nani? I thought you were going to go home with Kurosaki." I scowled a little. Her voice was almost as emotionless as Kuchiki Byakuya.

"Iie, I want to follow you home to make sure no hollow comes after you for tonight."

Kato blinked and started walking off; I walked beside her. "You didn't follow me home yesterday." She commented.

"Yeah, well I decided to give you a day to get over this."

She stopped abruptly and was instantly in my face, eyebrows knitted together and flickering eyes filled with a burning hatred.

"Get over what, the fact that _you _let my friend die?" Kato snarled at me, jamming a finger into my chest.

I scowled and narrowed my eyes at her. "_You _were the one who didn't kill her."

As soon as I said that, a sharp punch was connected straight into my jaw, catching me completely off guard. I widened my eyes and held the area as I stumbled back a bit.

'_I didn't even see that coming it was so fast!'_

She grabbed my tie and pulled it tight, causing me to choke a little. "Shinigami are supposed to protect humans and souls, you didn't to that did you? I've had no experience with fighting with a katana, so you should have _never _expected me to kill a monster like that on the spot especially since it was my friend!"

Kato let go and pushed me back a bit. I coughed and loosened up my tie to get back the lost air then looked back over at her. She glared at me for an instant then turned away and started walking.

I stood up right, after pinching the bridge of my nose and catching my breath, and then followed after her, remaining a few paces behind.

She was right in a sense. When Kurosaki killed his first hollow, he had a purpose to do so. He also didn't know at the time that hollows could be deceased friends or family. He wanted to protect his family; that was his will. Kato on the other hand, did not have a will. She _did _know that hollows could turn from friends; she found out the hard way. And when she saw her friend like that, plus with the lack of experience, she freaked out and froze.

I blinked and raised my eyebrows at the sudden darkness above me then looked up. Storm clouds had covered the sky.

'_Strange. It was clear sky earlier.' _I shook it off and looked ahead of me to find Kato not there. I looked around franticly for a second. "Ka-"

"Right here." I heard her say nonchalantly. I looked to my right and there she was, leaning against a door way to a small shop with her arms crossed.

'_Well..there went my pride.'_

I blinked and looked up at the shop, trying to avoid her slightly amused gaze. "Jipushi…Hofu?" The sign right above the door was written in bright red slightly styled characters.

"Yeah." I looked back down and she walked the store; I followed. "This is I and my Okaa-chans shop."

I nodded and looked around the small store. In the front there were three clothes racks. One carried various sizes of different colored long and short skirts; but styled differently than normal human clothes.

They didn't flare out; they were made of some strange material and laid out flat. The second rack carried the same material shirts. Some of the shirts had no sleeves, some did, and others had sleeves that were only connected at the arm pit and flared out at the end of the sleeve. The last rack carried various in length shawls and scarfs; same style as the others.

In the back there were about six bookshelves filled with various amounts of I don't know what. It was surprising; I had _never _seen anything like this before. Nothing like this seemed to exist in Japan.

I heard a 'ding' sound and turned to my right to see Kato behind a desk that had the register; she was counting money.

"What _is _all this?" I asked, continuing to look around.

"A couple years ago," Kato started off. "My family and I flew to America for a vacation. While we were there, my Okaa-chan insisted that we go to a renaissance fair, which was advertised in one of the pamphlets in the hotel, and we did. From then on my Okaa-chan and I were obsessed with renaissance things especially Jipushi culture from that time period." She closed the register and sat on top of the desk.

"When we came back, we found out that some of the American renaissance festivals existed here, but were not as popular. We would go to those, Okaa-chan and I, and made many friends there."

"When my parents divorced, Okaa-chan didn't know how to make income because she didn't work. So, from the suggestions and help of our friends at the renaissance fair, we bought this building off of a sale and created this shop. From then on, the culture for Jipushi and renaissance in Karakura town has increased rapidly all because of us."

A small smile curved on her lips. "I'm glad. That culture needed to spread here."

There was some shuffling from a distance then some footsteps coming from the back. From the furthest bookshelf, I saw her Mother appear with an apron on, a foam mask that covered the mouth, and her hair back in a messy bun; a strange and _strong _chemical smell followed after.

"Making more perfumes?" Kato asked, jumping down from the counter and walking up to her.

She nodded. "Yeah. Mattaku, such a headache…" Her Mother commented, taking off her mask and taking a deep breath of air, her face scrunched up in a cringe. She then noticed me and narrowed her eyes.

"Who are you?" She asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro," I bowed slightly. "I'm acquainted with your daughter." Her mother walked over and circled around me. I blinked and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"So _this _is the Hitsugaya Toshiro that Shizuko-chan was telling me about.." She mumbled to herself.

"You look like a punk." She commented, crossing her arms and glaring at me. I twitched and a red tick mark slapped on my forehead.

"Oh really now..?" I asked darkly, looking up at her.

"Oh yes. Who else has bleached hair and teal eyes? Look I dunno who you are, but if you hurt my daughter, I'll rip you a new one!"

"Okaa-chan!" Kato interrupted, walking up to her. "Be nice!" She scolded, crossing her arms. Her mother continued to glare at me, but then backed off and crossed her arms, looking away.

"Cheh..why is _he _here anyway?"

Kato put something in her bag and crossed her arms. "He..wanted to walk me home."

Her Mother's eye twitched and a dark aura formed around her. "Really now? And you're just _acquainted?_"

"Yes Okaa-chan!" Kato said with an irritated sigh. "He just thought that it would be a nice gesture."

Her Mother sighed again and turned to the door. "Alright, fine. He can go home now!"

"Okaa-chan..it's about to storm outside, I dunno if we sh-"

I zoned out of their bickering and walked outside and leaned against the front of the shop, staring out into the stormy sky.

* * *

Karakura Town August 8h 4:15 P.M.

I let out a sigh and looked at the back of Moms head as we headed back to our apartment. She was persistent on not wanting Hitsugaya to come home with me, so he simply jumped out of, what he called a "gigai", and walked right next to me while the faux body went off somewhere.

It was a numbing feeling to have Mika gone; to not have anyone to talk to; that one friend that whom you told everything too and they never judged you, just gone. Even though it had only been a couple of months, I felt a special connection to Mika, as if I knew her forever.

She was the type of girl where if you were having the most terrible day of your life, she would make you smile and forget all about the problems you had. Because of Mika, she had completely changed my outlook on life for the better. Because of Mika, she saved me from myself.

And that was thrown away by that damn hollow.

Screams still echoed through my ears; that of hers and the hollows. The faint silhouette of her body in that gas-like state was etched into my mind.

That night was hell. All I remember aside from that was coming home and bawling my eyes out then passing out on the couch.

Even in the morning, it was a struggle to get up. I wanted to stay home and not go to school, but my Mom had other plans during that time, and I didn't want to ruin them. So for that entire day, I constantly fought back tears of anger and sadness.

'_I blamed him for all that had happened because it was his fault. His fault for not doing his job. Stupid shinigami, I do hope he gets executed.'_

I narrowed my eyes and the top corner of my lip twitched in anger.

"Shizuko-chan dou shita no?" Mom asked, looking down at me. I looked up at her and smiled. "Betsuni, genki desu."

She nodded and we continued to walk in silence. After a while, we arrived at the apartment. Mom went to her bedroom and I walked out onto the balcony where Hitsugaya had gone. He was sitting on the Orvis and staring out into the sky. I walked out and leaned against the wall and stared out as well.

"'Betsuni?'" He asked in a slightly mocking way, looking over at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Urusai baka. She didn't even know that Mika existed." I replied, not looking back. I felt his irritated glare on me.

"Don't tell me to 'urusai' or a 'baka', I'm a taichou."

"A taichou to your subordinates, I am a human not a shinigami." I retorted flatly.

He 'cheh'd' and turned away. After a bit of silence, I spoke up.

"So, when does this whole 'training to become a shinigami' start?" There was a sudden beeping coming from him. He pulled out a phone and flipped through it.

"Now…" He mumbled. I blinked and suddenly found a hand connected to my head and, just like before, saw my body fall before me.

"Na-?" Hitsugaya wrapped an arm around my waist and jumped off the rail, and then suddenly, we were flying through the air.

* * *

Karakura Town August 8th 4:30 P.M.

Hitsugaya Toshiro jumped down to the ground in a grassy field by a park, and placed Kato Shizuko on the ground next to him. In front of the two was a lizard like hollow; it was fairly large, but low-level.

"Defeat it by slicing the mask." Hitsugaya ordered, looking over at the substitute. Kato looked over at him with a bewildered and slightly terrified look.

"Your sword," He pointed to the long katana. "Withdraw it, hold on tight, and charge at it. If it tries to slice you, dodge it. If it tried to eat you, jump back. It has no remorse, no conscious; it only has an incentive to eat to fill its despair. Now go!"

Shizuko looked back over at the creature and shuddered. Though she hesitated, she grabbed the hilt of her sword and slowly pulled it out of its sheath then held it out in front of her with two hands. Kato looked back at Toshiro who gave a faint nod.

She gulped and yelled out then ran for the hollow. The beast turned around and howled then created a crater by slamming it's over grown and scaly tale on the ground before her. Shizuko yelped and jumped back but lost her footing and fell on her front. She growled and stood up, wiping some blood off of her cut lip.

"Kisama…" She yelled again and sprinted after the creature and sliced its mask in half. It yelled out and disappeared.

Kato stared at the area and sheathed the long sword and looked over at Toshiro who clapped.

"Congratulations, you killed your first hollow." He smirked and walked over to her. The taichou was slightly surprised. Her speed on the sprint and slicing the hollow was very impressive. Just like when she punched him before, he never really saw it coming.

She looked over at him and returned the smirk. "Arigatou, but, to be honest, I had _no _idea what I was doing."

Hitsugaya shook his head and let out an amused snort.

They exchanged a look then that frantic beeping came from Toshiros soul pager again. He opened it up and looked at Kato. "Let's go."

* * *

Karakura Town August 8th 10:30 P.M.

I jumped on my bed and stared up at the ceiling of my room. Today was..interesting.

I fought three hollows and the only bad wound I had got was a bruised leg from when I was thrown against a tree. And when I had gotten home, I had been greeted with my Mother on the phone with the police and crying over my empty body. I then had to jump back into my body while Hitsugaya wiped the memories of my Mom with what I shall call "memory-erase stick."

Though I had thanked him for helping me in that situation, my anger towards Hitsugaya, though I will never admit it out loud, had gone down just a _little _bit, but not too much. I still blame him for Mikas death.

I sighed and blew my wet bangs (I had just showered) out of my face. Then, curling up in my blankets, I closed my eyes and nuzzled the pillow.

I can't be angry though. Mika wouldn't want me to be angry. She would want me to go on with my life and try to be as happy as possible. So, I have to be; in honor of her memory. Plus, knowing Mika, I believe that she is now in a better place, and that hopefully she is safe.

"No..I know she's safe.."

* * *

Karakura Town August 9th 5:00 A.M.

"Oi, wake up." The voice was distant.

"Wake up Kato." It won't shut up.

"Kato wake up or I'll hurt you." Shut up.

"Kato I'm warning you." _Still _won't shut up.

"You were warned." Yeah whatever.

There was a sudden pulling motion on my hair and I was yanked out of bed and fell flat on my face. I shot up and rubbed the spot where I was pulled and looked up at Hitsugaya Toshiro who was looking down at me.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I yelled in a whisper to him. "It's five in the damn morning!"

He deadpanned and blinked. "You're going to start to train today."

I twitched and grabbed his uniform and shook him back and forth. "Are you kidding me? It's five in the morning! I should be sleeping and so should you!"

Hitsugaya shrugged and put something on his hand and slapped my forehead. I yelped and fell on my bed and watched my body fall again with a light 'thump'. Once again, I felt his hand around my waist but this time, we were gone in a flash and suddenly flying through the air. But, every time he landed somewhere, he jumped and landed on some place completely different. It was really nauseating.

After about a minute or so, he finally put me down in front of a shop. I twitched and crossed my arms. "Give me a warning next time."

Hitsugaya ignored me and walked up to the door of the shop and opened it. He gestured me in and I walked in behind him. "Where are we going?" I asked.

He walked a little more and kicked something open. I blinked and suddenly his arm was around my waist again and he pulled me down. When he put me down, we were suddenly in some giant underground room that was fully lit, unlike outside.

I blinked and raised my eyebrows.

_ 'Things keep getting stranger and stranger..'_

"What is this place?" I asked, looking around.

"An underground training area." Hitsugaya said, looking over at me. "You will be training here from now on."

I looked over at him with a questioning gaze. "At five in the every god damn morning?"

"No. In the mornings on your school days, I will build up your physical strength and stamina. After school, you will learn how to shunpo and use kido, and on the weekends I will teach you sword fighting and the mixture of things."

"Uhhh…" I kept that stupid look on my face. This isn't going to be fun. I'm a fast runner, I ran track throughout my grade school years, but everything else, I was _terrible _at.

I once tried to play soccer with my brother which resulted in me breaking my ankle from trying to kick the ball. Another time, I tried to lift one of Moms _twenty_ pound weights and it fell right on my toe when I lifted it up _just _above my waist.

"Nigero." Hitsugaya said. I blinked and tilted my head, his voice snapping me out of my memories . "H-huh?"

"I said nigero."

* * *

Karakura Town August 9th 9:30 A.M.

I groaned and slammed my head on my school desk. Hitsugaya had me run all around the _huge _training area for thirty minutes. Then he made me do as many pushups and sit-ups as I could possibly do, which is an _astounding _twenty each I might add.

So over all, I was grumpy, tried and sore. I don't think I'm going to be very productive today, then again, I never really am.

A couple of hours passed by and we were in the English section of the class time. Now, I had finished all of the class work for English and the reading of a short story The Story of Yuriwaka: A Japanese Odyssey ,a couple days ago. So, I had all my requirements done. All the other kids though, were reading along as Nikamura-sensei, my teacher, read the passages monotonously.

I will still exhausted and sore, and with the open window and soft breeze, I was nodding off. I knew that it was inevitable, so I bowed my head ever so slightly so that my bangs were in my face, and held out my book so it would look like I was following along.

I was trying, trying _so _hard not to fall asleep, but the darkness was taking over me. My heavy eyes now carried such a weight were I couldn't open them up anymore, regardless of how much will and muscle power I had. The tedious reading coming from my teacher was slowly fading away as did my mind and consciousness.

* * *

Karakura Town August 9th 12:00 P.M.

It was lunch period and everyone was dismissed to where ever they ate. I had noted that Kato had effectively fallen asleep and kept a close eye on her and the teacher to make sure that she didn't do anything noticeable so he didn't notice her.

I guess she needed the sleep. I did work her until she collapsed on her side in a pool of sweat with her body shaking. Her speed though, was once again, quite amazing. Kato had effectively run five miles in thirty minutes without a break; not something an average human can do.

I smirked a little and walked over to her; she was still in that same position with that stupid book open. I shook my head at the amusing situation and rubbed her shoulder.

"Oi, Kato, wake up." She groaned in response and swatted my hand away. I moved it back and shook her harder.

"Kato, wake up." Another groan escaped her lips and she opened her baby blue orbs slightly and looked up at me. Her light brown hair was messy and some of it stuck to her face and her small lips were slightly parted.

A small smile twitched at the corners of my lips. She was kind of cu-

_'Whoa whoa whoa there Toshiro. She ain't cute, just a tired human. Hinamori looked like that when she was tired as well. Er..well..the same expression..' _I shook my head and suddenly realized that Katos head was leaning against my chest.

I twitched and pushed her off, causing her limp body to fall off the chair completely and sprawl on the floor with a light 'thud'. I bent down to check on her and she was _still _asleep.

Shaking my head, I picked up Kato bridal style and walked out of the school and to the back of the campus court yard. Then I jumped out of my body and flashed off to her apartment's balcony and walked in. (They left the door open there.)

I placed Kato on the bed and pulled the covers over her and sighed. She curled up in them and a small smile played on her face.

"Arigatou Hitsugaya-san…" She mumbled in her sleep.

I shook my head and walked out of the room without another word.

* * *

Translations

Nani- What

Iie- No

Mattaku- Jeez

Dou shita no- What's wrong? (informal)

Betsuni- Nothing

Genki Desu- I'm fine

Urursai- Shut up

Baka- Idiot

Kisama- A harsh way of saying 'you'. Kind of like teme.

Arigatou- Thank you (informal)

Nigero- Run

The Story of Yuriwaka: A Japanese Odyssey - Just some random Japanese book that I searched up online xD

Oi- Hey

Hope you enjoyed~


	4. Chapter 4 Breaking Down

Guys, I'm sorry to say this, but I have TAD or, The Avengers Disease. I'm sorry I..I just...I saw the movie so many times...I..it's so addicting..I mean Loki...ugh..But no seriously, I did see The Avengers MANY MANY MANY MANY times and Oh my god, I LOVE IT. So I've seen all the movies leading up to it and I was like "Aww this is good. The Avengers will be ok" I WAS WRONG! THE AVENGERS IS AMAZING! If you haven't seen it, go see it now. So um yeah. I'm going to write a Loki/OC story. I already have 1K done for it...I know..I suck xD. But no seriously, last week there were 72 stories for Loki/OC and now theres 117 I think o.e BY GOD! But hey, you can resist the God of Mischief? Hehehe ;D Well that's enough of that, here is Chapter Four. Enjoy~

Mushoku No Kagayaki

Chapter Four

Breaking Down

_"I remember a shadow, living in your greatness." -Loki, The Avengers. _

* * *

Karakura Town August 9th 3:45 P.M.

* * *

"KATO SHIZUKO!" I screamed and awoke from my nap at the sound of my Mother's voice. I looked around and saw Mom standing over me with her hands on her hips and her face screwed up into a deep scowl with a twitching lip.

"W-what?" I stuttered out rather sheepishly and stupidly.

She grabbed my shirt and shook me back and forth franticly.

"DON'T 'WHAT' ME! YOU DITCHED SCHOOL ALONG WITH THAT HITSUGAYA KID!"

I blinked. The last thing that I remembered was falling asleep in Nikamura-sensei's class. So does that means that..

My eye twitched. _'That son of a bitch.' _

"Okaa-chan! I swear to kami, I did _not _ditch school! I fell asleep in Nikamura-sensei's class and I'm guessing Hitsugaya-san took me home!"

Mom let me go and flared her arms about. "My sweet precious angel!" She exclaimed melodramatically. "Tainted by a white-haired punk! Oh kami where have I gone wrong!"

I sweat dropped and shook my head. "Okaa-chan, relax. He was just being nice." Mom shot around and clenched her fists, many red ticks on her head.

"That's when it starts! The boy acts nice around the girl and she falls for him. And once he she does wham!" She clapped her hands together. "She's pregnant and he ran off to go do drugs!"

I blushed heavily and widened my eyes. "I-it's not like th-"

"Mark my words Shizuko-chan; I _will _kill that boy once he comes back!" And with that, she stormed out of my room and slammed the door shut.

I sighed and dropped my head. _'I bring _one _guy home and she freaks out. Ya think she would trust me by now..'_

I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my head on them then looked out the window. It looked like it was going to rain. I smiled and walked over to the window then unbolted it and opened it up.

Cautiously, I looked at the ground to check to see if there were any people. When it was clear, I leaned out the window and looked at the web of thick vines ascending up to the top of the building. I took in a deep breath and grabbed one of the vines and pulled myself out of the window and onto the web. Once I was out, I began to slowly climb up the vines and to the top.

I'm not good at most athletic activities, but one of the things that I do enjoy, and ok at doing, is climbing. I enjoy high places; they bring me peace and make me rather enjoy solitude. When I was bullied because of Akira, I needed a place to relax and get away from everything. I couldn't find any place, so I looked out of my window for _some _sort of relief.

When I looked down at the ground, I saw vines climbing up the wall of the apartment and to the top of the building. So, after much contemplation and building up enough courage, I decided to climb up the vines and to the top of the complex. Ever since then, I always came up here to enjoy peace.

I arrived at the top of the apartments and jumped over the rail and let out a sigh. Then I looked up at the stormy sky and sat down on the concrete.

Karakura Town August 9th 4:00 P.M.

* * *

School ended and I was walking out of the building in a silence with Katos school work tucked under my arm. The teacher asked where Kato was, and I told her that she excused herself because she was sick.

I sighed and grabbed my phone as I heard it beep. My heart stopped.

_**Matsumoto Rangiku **_flashed on the screen. I knew she would call, but I didn't think that she would so soon. Hesitantly, I flipped it open and clicked the answer button.

"Moshi moshi?" I asked nonchalantly. _'Remain calm.'_

"_Moshi Moshi Taichou! How are you today?" _Her voice was just as loud and annoying as ever.

"I'm fine Matsumoto." I responded airily.

"_That's great! How's the mission going?" _

I scowled and stopped walking. For an instant, _just an instant_, it felt like nothing was wrong right now. As if Kato didn't exist, which is something that I ever so longed for.

'…_.What do I do? Do I lie to her or tell her the truth? If I lie, that'll give me more time, but if I get caught, that means I'll get in more trouble. However, Research and Development might be tracking this call..Dammit..'_

"_Taichou? You there?" _

"Yeah, gomen. It's fine. I haven't encountered the Espada yet. However, there has been recent activity that shows he might show up soon."

"_Awww, that sucks. I wanted you to come back earlier so I didn't have to do all this paperwork.." _She whined and trailed off.

"MATSUMOTO!" I yelled over the phone, causing some people to stare.

"Bye bye Taichou, I have to go now~" She chimed and hung up the phone.

I twitched and slammed the phone shut and stuffed it back inside my pocket.

'_That feeling again…that feeling as if nothing was wrong.'_ I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. _'Dammit Toshiro, you keep getting yourself into more shit.' _

Karakura Town August 9th 5:30 P.M.

* * *

I found Kato on top of her apartment building and walked up to her.

"You shouldn't be out here, you'll catch a cold." I said referring to the light drizzle that started a while ago. "How did you even get up here anyway?"

She looked over at me and shrugged. "I don't really care.." She mumbled. "I just want to enjoy the rain..and I climed."Kato smiled a little and gave a thumbs up. "I have just a _tad _bit of coordination."

I raised my eyebrow at her then shook my head. "C'mon, we have training." Kato looked at me then let out a dramatic sigh and stood up.

"Oh joy~" She said sarcastically. I pulled out the glove from my shihakusho and slapped her forehead with it.

Kato groaned and stretched. "Alright, let's get this over with."

I wrapped an arm around her waist and flashed off to Uraharas training grounds.

Before I had gone to pick Kato up, I stopped at Urahara Kisuke's shop to ask a couple of questions and confirm some things.

My first question was something that has been on my mind for the past couple days: Why Kato could see my eye color. I had told him that she claimed that she could see my eye color even though she was color blind. Even in the Soul Society, strange things existed, for example, Kurotsuchi Mayuri and Komamura Sajin, but a medical problem couldn't just change over the sight of an individual.

Urahara had suggested that it could be the influence of my reiatsu, but he would have to look into it more.

I also asked if I were to remain in shinigami form for a long time, would it be able to influence my powers to increase faster. He had said that it might, but he wouldn't recommend it because Arrancar and Hollows might appear more frequently and not only attack me, but Kato as well.

Regardless of that, I was in deep trouble. Not only had I transferred my powers to a human, I had lied to my lieutenant. If the sou-taichou found out about that, I would be stripped of my title as a captain for sure.

The Seireitei is in a time of turmoil now and the last thing we need is a loss of a captain and more drama of a human having my power. Who knows when Aizens next plan of attack is? He could have his forces attack the human world or the Soul Society at any minute, and I couldn't help defend it because of my idiotic mistake. I just hope that nothing bad happens in these months I'm trapped here.

After a bit, we arrived at the training grounds and I put Kato down and placed my arms in the sleeves of my shihakusho. She mumbled something and rubbed her side.

"Mattaku, could your grip get any tighter?" She complained.

"If you recall," I started, ignoring her little comment which caused her face to twitch and give me slight amusement. "Today is the day where we start your kido and shunpo."

Her face deadpanned. "Uhh…"

I let out a sigh and began my whole spiel on what kido and shunpo were used for. Kato continually had a stupid look on her face while I was explaining it; which is understandable really. Anyone who was hearing about how us shinigami can focus our reiatsu into one area and somehow magically appear there as well as using destructive and binding spells, would look at the person as if they were crazy.

"And how exactly do you expect me to do this?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. The look on my face caused her to quickly rephrase her question. "Umm…can I have a demonstration?" Kato asked sheepishly.

I smirked and nodded. "Alright, you might wanna stand back for this." I stated rather arrogantly. Once Kato was back a few feet, I turned around and held out my hands in front of me and focused my reiatsu there.

"Hado No. 31, Shakkaho!"

What I expected is _not _what happened. As the youngest Taichou ever to exist in the Thirteen Court Guard Divisions and a child prodigy, I believe my pride has been completely shattered.

Instead of the simple spell flying into a rock and destroying it, it exploded right in my face. This caused my face to turn black in shoot and part of my bang to be incinerated. I coughed and the ringing in my ears was slowly fading away into the laughter of the human next to me.

I turned around slowly to see Kato holding her stomach. She saw me and put a hand over her mouth to try to stop her laughter

"U…um…H-Hitsugaya-s-san? A-are you-?" Kato snorted some more and bit back more laughter. I twitched widely and stormed over to her, but no words came out. She pointed at me face and fell over on the ground, laughing some more.

"O-O-Oh, K-ka-" She gasped out in uncontrollable laughter.

"NANI?" I snapped at her, my face a beat red from anger.

'_The nerve of this human! Laughing in the face of a taichou!'_

She just kept laughing, not stop. I twitched more and clenched my fists together then turned around.

'_What the hell was that? I know I lost most of my power, but I have enough left to perform simple kido…right? _

I scowled and held out my hand, focusing my reiatsu into it. Instead of having a stable blue light floating in my palm, it constantly fluctuated like a candle flame blowing in the wind. I scowled and flicked my hand then closed my eyes again and focused on a couple steps in front of me.

Instead of shunpoing into place, I stayed put. Angrily, I slammed my fist into a rock which ceased all laughter coming from Kato.

'_Kuso..kuso..kuso…KUSO! The only thing I can do is walk around and swing my sword..'_

The air shifted and I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Hitsugaya-san, dou shita no?" I twitched again and seemed to black out.

"Am I ok? _Am I ok?" _I snarled lowly through my teeth. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight; she winced and tried to pull away.

"Of course I'm not ok! You, a baka human, getting in the way of a battle. If it wasn't for _you _I would still have my powers. You intervened with my life! You and your damned mother, and your dead friend Mika. Because of _you _I might never see my fukutaichou or my childhood friend again. Becau-"

There was another hand on my shoulder. I let go of Katos hand, grabbed the hilt of Hyorinmaru and shot around angrily. Urahara hand his own sword drawn and held by his side.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, I think its best that you calm down." He stated coldly and seriously.

I widened my eyes in sudden realization. The temperature had dropped considerably, to the point where there was ice forming on the ground and rocks. I spun around to see Kato holding her hand which was badly bruised and party black from frostbite. Her skin had paled and fear was written all over her face.

I let go of the hilt and dropped my hand limply by my side, keeping my eyes on Kato. Our eyes locked, hers wide with fear with tears forming at the corners. Mine, cold and unreadable.

After a bit, I spoke up. "Kato I.." She stood and ran past me. I turned around and called out to her, but it fell to deaf ears. She was gone.

Karakura Town August 10th 2:00 P.M.

* * *

Hitsugaya had decided to leave Kato alone for the rest of that day. He felt slightly bad for snapping at the girl and giving her frostbite, but he was too proud to apologize. Instead, he stayed in Uraharas training grounds and was busy working his reiryoku.

Sweat poured down the captains' brow and stung the small cuts and burns scattered all over his face, naked chest, and arms. His chest heaved in a pant along and his whole body shook from exhaustion and anger. He wiped some blood and sweat from his lip and tried some more kido.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man! Truth and temperance, upon this wall of sinless dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado No. 33, Sokatsui!" Hitsugaya yelled, aiming it at a few rocks a ways away from him.

The blue light back fired into the young man's face causing him to fall to his back with his chest heaving and more burns and cuts forming. He panted and slammed his fist onto the ground.

"Kuso…" Hitsugaya sat up and wiped fresh blood from his lip and sighed.

Anger boiled in the captain as he stood up and stumbled. He leaned against a nearby rock for support and placed a hand on his head, feeling dizzy. After a minute of standing there, he stood up right and walked over to his Zanpakuto, which was stabbed into the ground, and grabbed the hilt.

Karakura Town August 10th 2:28 P.M.

* * *

Kato sat in the check out chair with her knees to her chest and her chin rested on them. She was officially _terrified _of Toshiro. There was only one other time in her life when she was actually terrified of another person

_Flash Back_

_ There was a blood curdling scream heard from Kato Shizuko. She was cowering against the board of her bed with rivers of fresh hot tears pouring from her blood shot eyes and staining her cheeks. Her petite body shaking and curled up in a blanket held tightly together by shaky hands as if a small child was trying to hide from a 'monster under the bed.' _

_ Her father, Kato Daisuke, stood over the teen, his face red and screwed up into a glare and his teeth grinding. He wasn't a tall man, only of a height of 5'8, green eyes, almost bald, most of his hair in the back of his head. _

_ Daisuke clenched his big fists tighter and took another step towards his daughter. _

_ "Get your ass up now!" He bellowed at the girl, the vein in his neck popping through his skin, almost looking like it would burst any moment. _

_ "N-No!" Shizuko stuttered out. Her voice was hoarse, shaky, and full of fear. "Y-you heard the doctor! I have reactive air way disease!" _

_ "I DON'T CARE!" He screamed at her. Some blood vessels burst in his face and he stormed his way over to her. Shizuko screamed and tried to back away, but her Father grabbed her hand and got right in her face. _

_ "Shizuko if you don't get your ass out of bed right now, I will slap the SHIT out of you!" _

_Kato let out a wail and pulled away from her Father, a bruise forming on her hand. She ran out of her room and too the outdoors. She was dizzy from lack of breath, but fearing for her life, she sprinted down the street in the early spring sun. Shizuko heard her father running and calling after her, but she was too fast and quickly out ran him. _

_ She ran aimlessly for what seemed like hours before she collapsed by a nearby ditch and fell asleep. _

_Flash Back over_

Kato let out a shaky sigh and stared at her bandaged hand. Her Mother had freaked out and bombarded Kato with questions. Her excuse was a reaching for ice from the refrigerator while reading in a news report on her phone and guessing that she left it in there for too long. Of course Rei was skeptical, but she ignored it and took her daughter to the doctor where she treated her hand.

"Shizuko-chan? What's bothering you?" Her Mother asked, coming out of the back room with two gym bags tucked under her arm.

She looked up from her knees and shrugged then jumped out of her chair and grabbed her bag. "I..just memories.." She said quietly, hints of sadness in her voice.

"About your Outo-san?" Rei asked, grabbing an umbrella from the rack and handing it to Shizuko. The two walked outside into the rain and opened their umbrellas. Rei turned off the shop lights and locked the door then headed down the street with Shizuko walking beside her.

"…Yeah..the time when he threatened to 'slap the shit out of me' and I ran away for a day and a half…" Kato stated quietly, keeping her eyes to the ground.

A sound of disgust came from her Mother and she adjusted her bag on her shoulder out of habit. Shizuko shook her head and looked at her Mom with a small but sad smile on her face.

"Don't be angry Okaa-chan." She reassured. "All of that is over now. We were all going through a bad time then and now everyone is forgiven."

Rei looked at her daughter with a raised eyebrow, then grinned and reached over and ruffled her hair. "You're right. Now let's head to Dance Class with a positive attitude!"

Shizuko laughed. "Hahaha, alright."

* * *

Translations

Outo-san- Dad

Nani-What

Kuso- Damn or shit

Dou shita no?- What's wrong?

Mattaku- Jeez

Moshi Moshi- Hello but only used over the phone

Gomen- Sorry (informal)

Hope you Enjoyed!

Keep Calm and Join Loki's Army!


	5. Chapter 5 Family Portrait

Heeeeyy...sorry for the REALLY late update..I had this Summer School type thing that wasn't really Summer School..but it kinda was..BUT IT'S OVER NOW! I was really tired during it which caused lack of inspiration and yeah. BUT IT'S OVER AND A;LDSKFJA;LDK! I SWEAR I'll start with consistent updates..Ugh..well yeah. Thanks to all who've reviewed at alerted, I appreciate it very much so! And I would love more feedback :) Well, here's the next chapter! Enjoy! Translations at the bottom

Mushoku No Kagayaki

Colorless Radiance

Chapter Five

Family Portrait.

_"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal." __-Anonymous_

* * *

Karakura Town August 10 3:00 P.M.

I loved my inner world. It was always cold, always quiet, and always peaceful.

The cold wind ruffled my hair and clothes, of course having no effect on me. I opened my eyes and saw the endless valley of snow and ice; on the ground, trees, and distant mountains. From the gray sky, small snowflakes started to fall and the air suddenly shifted into heavy gusts of icy wind.

I shifted my eyes up and saw Hyorinmaru descend to the ground right in front of me. It folded its giant wings and lowered its head a little, looking down at me.

"Master, why are you so pent up with anger?"

I scowled and clenched my fists slightly. "You know perfectly well why! I'm losing my powers, and I have to deal with this damned human!"

The red eyes narrowed dangerously. "Watch your tongue master. You shouldn't use such language."

I scoffed and crossed my arms. "Cheh.."

There was a long moment of silence before Hyorinmaru spoke up. "Master, you shouldn't be stressing so much. You need to calm down."

I twitched and stood up, glaring at the dragon. "Are you kidding me? I can't shunpo or even use kido anymore! And it is _all _because of that human! I have every right to be stressing out!"

There was another moment of silence between the both of us. Hyorinmaru slowly lowered its head, bringing it close to mine. I felt its ice cold breath against my skin, giving even me goose bumps. Our eyes locked, staying that way for a very long time.

I slowly felt myself calming down. My muscles began to relax and all the cuts and bruises on my skin began to disappear. My eyes felt very heavy all of a sudden and I couldn't keep them open. My legs began to feel weak, along with my entire body. It didn't feel like the energy was being drained from me, but rather, something else. My anger and tension perhaps?

Before I knew it, I was lying on something very cold and staring up into the gray sky. Everything else seemed to become distant; I was unable to focus on anything, not even on my own breathing.

"There, now you're calm." Hyorinmaru echoed in my ear, it seemed to be the only thing that was clear to me. I tried to form words, but nothing came out. I even tried to lift my body but I couldn't move.

"Don't worry," It soothed the direction of its voice range from my right ear to my left. "You're in a state of paralysis. I put it under it so you could calm down, so please hear me out."

I couldn't respond, so I simply stayed in place, waiting for it to continue.

"I understand your anger, but you mustn't blame Kato Shizuko. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I do not know why your powers are deteriorating, but I wish to know why as much as you do."

There was another silence, I assuming Hyorinmaru wanting its words to sink in.

"I also understand your position master, and I know it's dire. Instead of you training her, perhaps you try to regain your own powers while have someone else train her. Try to think of some plan master. Remember to collect your emotions and try your best to think…"

Everything slowly became distant, even Hyorinmaru's voice.

"Because if you don't, you'll have a repeat of last time.."

My eyes snapped open. I stared blankly at my reflection in the blade of Hyorinmaru before I let out a laugh that would make anyone question my sanity and ran a hand through my hair.

It was right. I had let my emotions get the best of me, which clouded my thinking. I had to think of a plan in order to somehow pull myself out of the trouble that I was already in. If I continue to get overly emotional, it can only lead to deepening the possible punishment.

I shot up and walked over to my discarded shihakusho and haori and put the two back on and sheathed Hyorinmaru.

'_But first things first, I have to apologize..'_

* * *

Karakura Town August 10th 3:15 P.M.

Stretches were bothersome today. I had been stressed about because of the whole 'turning-into-a-shinigami-situation' which caused my muscles to tense up. Not only that, it was difficult to dance and stretch with a giant cast on my hand.

The doctor has said that the frost bite was only mild, and there were no permanent damages to my skin tissue, but I would have a dull pain in my hand which I would have to take pain medication for. He also had said that my Mom would have to put Aloe on it every six hours and make sure that I took hot baths to help 'warm up' the almost frozen skin tissue.

He was confused about my fake story for how I got it, but to be honest, I would believe the 'sticking my hand in the ice box for too long' story over the 'a shinigami froze my hand because he got pissy' story. It was so strange, on how not only Hitsugaya-san had given me frost bite, but almost froze the underground training area as well.

'_I recall a couple nights ago, when that hollow consumed Mika, Kurosaki-san had appeared and shouted some sort of chant and some darkish light had shot at the hollow, causing it to burn. And Hitsugaya-san had given me his powers through his sword, and when I woke up, I had a sword of my own. So I can assume that the Shinigami channel their powers through their sword.'_

_ 'But does that mean that all their powers are different? Could Kurosaki-san freeze things as well? Or is it just a 'Hitsugaya thing'? I know so much yet so little at the same time.'_

I heard clapping echo through the room and I turned my attention forward and stopped my dancing.

"Alright girls, good job today!" Sato-sensei, our dance instructor, called from the front of the room.

"I'll see you all next week!"

I stood there for a second in slight shock that class was already over. It had seemed that only five minutes ago we had just started our stretches.

It was only the nudge of someone brushing past me that brought me out of my slight daze. I shook my head and trotted to the back of the studio where the bags were placed.

_'I must be losing it.' _

"You seemed out of it today, Shizuko-chan." Mom commented as walked home in the rain under the safety of our umbrellas.

I looked at the wet cement and shrugged. "We all have our days when we can't focus." She stopped walking. I turned around and looked up at her, meeting her gaze.

"You've been like this for the past four days. What's wrong?"

I narrowed my eyes and looked back at the ground. "Nothing, Okaa-chan."

_'What was I supposed to tell her? That my ghost friend Mika died and I have powers of a shinigami now?' _

"You can't even look me in the eye and say that." Mom walked towards me and grabbed my chin with her thumb and index finger, forcing me to look at her. "I am your Okaa-chan; now _tell _me what's wrong _now._" She said seriously, her faced screwed up in a deep scowl.

"I told you _nothing_," I sneered, pulling away and glaring at her. "Can't you just leave me alone?"

Her face dropped as well as the hand she held my chin with. Her dark eyes scanned for mine, as if she was trying to find some sort of remorse for what I had said. We stood there in the rain for what seemed like hours, just staring at each other. I had the urge to just fling myself at Mom, cry, and tell her everything that's been happening.

To be fourteen and yearn for that childish parental comfort, it's moronic. It says that I'm an immature coward who can't gather herself together in a tumultuous situation. I thought I had learned this past year from my family drama, but I guess not.

"I'm losing my daughter.." Mom mumbled under her breath, walking past me with downcast eyes. "…Just like I lost my son.."

I stood in place, hearing her footsteps fade away into the rain. I bit my lip and slammed my eyes shut, trying to fight back angry tears.

_'How could she compare me to that jerk?'_

* * *

Karakura Town August 10th 4:00 P.M.

Toshiro barely made the jump to Shizuko's apartment balcony. The small captain fell frustrated at his deteriorating powers. He had deduced that the powers he had left after giving them to Shizuko were draining away because the reishi in the World of the Living wasn't great enough for him to absorb to gain back his powers, where in the Soul Society, he would gain them back in a few weeks.

So now, Hitsugaya was in more of a ditch. He wouldn't be able to return to the Soul Society as if nothing happened as planned. He would either have to return and accept any punishment necessary or get caught and face against a bigger punishment. The captain's pride went against both, but he had a budding idea, though it was insane. But at this point, he was desperate enough to entertain the idea.

Toshiro stepped into the apartment, looking around for Kato. Even his reiatsu detecting abilities were going downhill.

He was soaking wet, little beads of water falling from the drenched locks of his white hair falling onto the floor, his waraji leaving wet tracks in the beige shrug carpet as he walked around, looking for Shizuko.

Toshiro checked the Kitchen and Living room first for Kato, not finding her there. He walked over to the door of her room and lifted his hand to knock on it. Just as his knuckles touched the wood of the door, loud music started blasting from the room, catching Toshiro off guard, making him jump.

The singer was screaming rather than singing, causing a rolling headache to form in the back of Toshiro's head. He rolled his eyes and opened the door, finding Shizuko with the top half of her body hanging off her bed with a towel over her eyes.

"Kato!" Toshiro yelled over the music, but to no avail, he couldn't even hear his own voice over the music. He huffed and walked over to the radio where he assumed where the music was coming from. Not knowing how to work the machine, he found the extension cord that connected it to the outlet and yanked it from the wall.

Shizuko growled and the sound of her music suddenly disappearing and yanked the towel off of her eyes. "What the hell, man?" She yelled at Toshiro angrily. She suspected it to be her mother, but was surprised it was Toshiro.

"You'll blow your ears out like that." Toshiro stated calmly, walking over to Shizuko and raising an eyebrow, looking down at her. "And what are you doing?"

"Hanging upside down so eventually my blood vessels in my brain would rupture and I would die from hemorrhage." She stated flatly, looking back at him.

Toshiro stayed silent for a moment before he forcefully grabbed Shizuko by the arm, and yanked her off the bed. "You're an idiot." He replied in the same manor, sitting down on the edge of the bed, crossing his arms and looking over at her.

Shizuko let out an angry snort and stood up, glaring at Toshiro who simply looked back at her nonchalantly. She knew that leaning over the bed like that would cause brain hemorrhage, but she also knew that it was very painful from the pressure building up in the head. So eventually she would give into the pain and sit herself up right before any damage took place.

"Why do _you _care?" Shizuko snapped, walking over to her desk chair and sitting down, her eyes never leaving his. "After all, I _am _just a life ruiner aren't I? Wouldn't you like me dead?"

Toshiro flinched and scowled, shifting his gaze down to the floor. He didn't know what to say, and neither did Shizuko, so they both sat in a silence.

Shizuko had walked home instead of heading back to the shop. She decided it would be best if her and her Mom stayed away from each other for a couple hours so they wouldn't break into harsh arguments at the shop, which would run off costumers.

From the time that Shizuko had been walking home, to the time that she had arrived at home, she had gone through three stages of emotion: anger, depression, and back to anger again. Shizuko was angry at the fact that her Mother would compare her to her older brother. It was a highly offensive insult to her to be compared to him. She then spiraled down into depression that her Mom would actually say such a sensitive thing to her, burning a hole into her self-esteem and letting out a few tears of self-pity. Then, out of all of that, Shizuko somehow managed to blame it all on Toshiro, and grow angry again.

So all-in-all, Kato Shizuko was a emotional teenage mess.

"Gomen…" Toshiro spoke up after awhile, looking over at Shizuko who was caught by surprise.

He sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I let my emotion get the best of me, I shouldn't have done that, I'm sorry." It went against Toshiro's pride to apologize, but he knew he had too to gain her trust back, plus, he knew it was wrong to snap at her like that.

She blinked, taking a moment to let it sink in before she sighed as well and dropped her shoulders. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that either. I'm mad..just not at you.."

The captain raised a white eyebrow and peered at her with curiosity, but he remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

Shizuko noticed Toshiros curious eyes on her, so she let out another sigh and shrugged, looking out the window into the rainy sky.

"I'm the middle child of my family," She started off. "I have one younger brother, his name is Tadao and _had _one older brother, his name was Ryo." Shizuko remained silent for another moment, pushing a strand of light brown hair behind her ear.

"Ryo had a lot of problems. My parents took him to many doctors and put him in many hospitals to try and get his medicine straight. It would work for awhile, but he hated taking it because he said it 'toned him down too much.'"

Toshiro nodded for her to continue, listening inventively.

"They would put him on one medication after the other, until one day, they finally got the medication right. I was eight and Ryo was fourteen. For three years, we all lived in happiness. Nothing seemed to be wrong, everything was going right…" She began to play with her fingers and her eyebrows were etched together in sadness. "But then his best friend was killed."

"After that, Ryo turned for the worst. He started doing drugs and drinking. He became violent towards my parents and Tadao and I. My parents started to blame each other and became violent towards each other as well. And then, when I thought it couldn't get worse, Ryo was killed because he owed a drug dealer money."

Toshiro widened his eyes a little bit, but continued listening.

"My parents arguing got worse after that, eventually my Outo-san kicked my Okaa-chan out. Outo-san still had pent up anger, which he then took out on me. One day it got so bad that I ran away. That's when everything changed." She shifted in her chair and held her hands tight together.

"My parents stopped arguing and settled a divorce; they had me in therapy for a couple months as well as Tadao. When we were all better, Outo-san and Tadao moved to Tokyo and Okaa-chan and I stayed here…"

Shizuko pulled out a picture from her pocket and opened it up. Her Mother and Father stood happily, their arms around each other and warm smiles on their faces. Tadao held onto his Mothers dress, his big dark brown eyes shining. Ryo had Shizuko up on his shoulders, both of them with huge grins on their faces and the same color eyes shining brightly and innocently.

"I was mad, because Okaa-chan had compared me to Ryo.." She sighed and handed the picture over to Toshiro, who took it and examined the picture.

"That photo was the only family portrait that we have with all of us smiling in it…"

Toshiros face softened and handed the picture back to Shizuko, who put it back in her pocket.

"…Gomen for what happened…" Toshiro said, feeling slightly bad for her.

"It's fine.." She replied, looking over at him and smiling a little. "To be honest, I've calmed down now. Thank you for listening to me, Hitsugaya-san."

"You're welcome." He replied with a slight nod. If one looked closely, they could see the corners of his lips quirk up into a ghost of a smile.

The two remained silent after that, keeping to their own minds. Toshiro had decided to leave Kato alone for the rest of the weekend. He needed time to think on how to train her while his powers were deteriorating, and he needed to think more on his plan.

Shizuko was left alone in her house. When she was telling Toshiro her story, she felt an odd closeness to him, as if they had been friends for years. It also confused her on how she easily told him the story. She had only known him for a couple of days, and she was terrified of him, so why would she tell him the story so easily?

It was beginning to frustrate her as she thought more about it. She had told herself, when Toshiro had given her the frost bite, that she wouldn't trust him as easily and would try to be void of any unnecessary interaction with him. And yet she told him something so personal that she hadn't told to anyone else, not even Akira.

'_What's happening to me?' _Was Shizuko's constant thought as she tossed and turned in her bed that night.

* * *

Karakura Town August 12th 12:00 P.M.

Shizuko and Toshiro were sitting in the class room, eating lunch together. Toshiro had woken Shizuko up and started her training again, making her run laps across the entire training area. She whined and complained about being sore and feeling nauseous so she didn't want to eat lunch, but Toshiro told her if she didn't eat, he would make her work out _until _she threw up. After that threat, she immediately dove into her food.

The two were eating in a bit of a silence, Shizuko reading her favorite manga while The Captain stared out the window, looking forlorn. He felt so trapped from being in the World of the Living. The air was stuffy, the gigai felt like it was crushing him, and the people were obnoxious. Hell, he even longed for yelling at Matsumoto for not doing her paperwork.

Toshiro was indifferent about Kato Shizuko or her family. Sure, he was willing to admit that what she went through with her older brother was a terrible experience, but it didn't really concern him. He needed to act like he cared around her so he could gain her trust in order for his plan to work. He needed to remove all the hatred she had for him and replace it with a 'bond'.

The plan was to train Shizuko to however high her ability the genius could get her to in however many months he would be in the World of the Living. If he gained any notice that the Soul Society was coming after him, he would somehow trick Shizuko into stabbing him through the chest and transferring whatever power she had into him.

Yes, Toshiro was using her and he knew he was being selfish, but he didn't care. He had Hinamori and his reputation to protect and that's all he cared about.

Shizuko was buried in her manga, feeling the tension of the situation course through her small body. She flipped the page to find out what was about to happen to the main character, but the book was snatched out of her hands. She twitched and swallowed the rest of the white rice that was in her mouth and looked up.

"Oi, what was tha-"Shizuko paused, her blood running cold.

Akira stood in front of her, the manga book being hold up loosely between her fingers. Her hazel eyes were looking down at Shizuko, filled with amusement. Her plump and glossed lips were curled into a wicked grin as she flipped through the book.

"Still reading the Shonen manga I see, Shizu-chan~"She chimed, tossing the book to the side.

Shizuko scowled and glared at Akira, feeling her blood broil. "Don't call me that, Akira." She snarled.

"Aww c'mon, Shizu-chan, it's a nickname that fits a small child like you very well." She bent down, taking some strands of Shizuko's hair and running it through her long, dainty fingers.

"Oi, leave her alone." Toshiro called, taking notice at Akira's taunting. Akira scoffed and looked over at Toshiro, opening her mouth to say something, but then quickly changed gears.

She raised her eyebrows and looked Toshiro up and down, licking her lips. "Well hello there." Akira called seductively, moving a desk over to get a better look at him. She leaned on his desk, flipping a strand of black curly hair behind her shoulder.

"You must be Hitsugaya Toshiro, the new hottie in town," Akira held out her hand as if she expected Toshiro to kiss it. "I'm Yamata Akira, nice to meet you."

Toshiro raised an eyebrow and looked at her as if she was stupid. "Look, just leave Kato alone and we won't have any trouble."

"Don't tell me you're wasting your time with," She jutted her thumb at Shizuko. "_That." _Shizuko scoffed and rolled her eyes at Akira.

"You smell like cheap furniture and look like a raccoon with all that makeup on." Toshiro retorted flatly.

"E-excuse me?" Akira gasped, putting a hand on her chest in a melodramatic manor.

"That is obviously not your natural hair color, and you cover yourself in so much fake tan you look orange. Please, if anyone is a _'that' _it's you. At least Kato doesn't dress herself up to look like a cheap baita."

Shizuko placed a hand over her mouth to cover her laughter. Akira just stared stupidly at Toshiro, slowly taking in everything that he just said. She let out a yell of frustration and stormed out of the room, not able to come up with any sort of retort.

Toshiro just shrugged it off and looked over at Shizuko, who looked at him with a huge grin on her face. "Arigatou, Hitsugaya-san. That's the first time anyone has ever stood up to her!"

He just nodded in response and turned his gaze back to the window. "You're welcome.."

* * *

Karakura Town August 12th 3:20 P.M.

Class had ended awhile ago. Kato and Hitsugaya were standing outside of the school, exchanging phone numbers. Toshiro had explained that he wouldn't always be around Kato sometimes, so if she was ever in need of something, he would just be a phone call away.

The two had given each other their phones so they could put in the number. Just as they handed them back to each other, a random student ran straight into Toshiro and Shizuko, causing both of their phones to fly out of their hands and scatter onto the ground.

"Oi!" Both of them called irritably in unison.

"G-gomen!" He apologized, quickly scrambling to his feet and running back in his direction.

Shizuko huffed as she watched him run away, placing her hands on her hips. "Well he was in a hurry.." She mumbled.

Toshiro bent down and picked up the two phones. He didn't take time to notice that both were the same color and same design. He simply put one in his pocket and handed the other to Shizuko, who took it and placed it back in her school bag.

Just then, a beeping noise came from Kato's watch. She checked it and gasped. "Eh! I forgot! We have stocks today!" She cried out, darting for the street that led to the shop.

"Gomen, Hitsugaya-san!" Shizuko called out, waving back to him. "I'll have to continuing the training tomorrow!"

The captain sighed and dropped his shoulders. He rolled his eyes and looked around the court yard to find Kurosaki so they could walk back to his house.

* * *

Karakura Town August 12th 3:30 P.M.

I continued running down the street to the shop. My muscles were sore from running all this morning, but I had to be there for stock. Mom was still mad at me for snapping at her the other day, so if I was late, it would make everything ten times worse.

I heard a beeping noise come from my school bag so I slowed down and rummaged through it, picking up my phone. I didn't bother checking the Caller I.D., thinking it would just be Mom, so I opened up my phone and took a deep breath.

"Gomen nasai, Okaa-chan! I swear I'm almost to the shop to help you!"

There was a bit of a silence from the other side.

_"…Taichou?"_

* * *

__Translations~

Gomen-I'm sorry (informal)

Oi-Hey

Baita-Whore


	6. Authors Note (Don't worry it isn't bad!)

Hey guys! Sorry for barely updating..er...not updating at all. There has been A LOT going on which has prevented me from updating. I've been going over MNK, and I'm in the process of rewriting it! A lot is going to be different, but the basic essence and theme of the story is going to be the same as well as the characters! I'm done with school, so I'll definitely be uploading all this summer! Please bare with me because I'm just a bit slow and my family is a bit of a mess...but I'm trying! I'm sure I'll be updating this month so watch out for it! If you have abany questions, send a PM!


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